The Structure and Metallicity Gradient in the Extreme Outer Disk of NGC 7793

Studies of outer regions of spirals disks are fundamental to our understanding of both the process of galaxy assembly and the subsequent secular evolution of galaxies. In an earlier series of papers we explored the extent and abundance gradient in the outer disk of NGC 300 and found an extended purely exponential disk with a metallicity gradient which flattens off in the outermost regions. We now continue the study of outskirts of pure disk spirals with another Sculptor Group spiral, NGC 7793. Using Gemini Multi Object Spectrograph camera at Gemini South, we trace the disk of NGC 7793 with star counts out to ~9 scale lengths, corresponding to 11.5 kpc at our calibrated distance of 3.61+/-0.53 Mpc. The outer disk of NGC 7793 shows no evidence of a break in its light profile down to an effective surface brightness of ~30 mag/arcsec^2 (~3 mag/arcsec^2 deeper than what has been achieved with surface photometry) and exhibits a non-negative abundance gradient within the radial extent of our data.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, ApJ accepte

Outer-Disk Populations in NGC 7793: Evidence for Stellar Radial Migration

We analyzed the radial surface brightness profile of the spiral galaxy NGC 7793 using HST/ACS images from the GHOSTS survey and a new HST/WFC3 image across the disk break. We used the photometry of resolved stars to select distinct populations covering a wide range of stellar ages. We found breaks in the radial profiles of all stellar populations at 280" (~5.1 kpc). Beyond this disk break, the profiles become steeper for younger populations. This same trend is seen in numerical simulations where the outer disk is formed almost entirely by radial migration. We also found that the older stars of NGC 7793 extend significantly farther than the underlying HI disk. They are thus unlikely to have formed entirely at their current radii, unless the gas disk was substantially larger in the past. These observations thus provide evidence for substantial stellar radial migration in late-type disks.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure. Accepted for publication in Ap